Mission

It all began in Trafalgar Square. We had gone along to see the Christmas tree and found an injured pigeon huddling under a bench.

The symbol of peace lay bleeding while people sang of goodwill, so we decided that if the spirit of Christmas was passing her by, we would not. Tucked into a coat we took her home, but what next?

This was over three decades ago; no internet or mobiles. The professionals we approached offered only to kill our little patient, so we learned how to help her ourselves. It set us thinking about other pigeons rescued to an uncertain future. Would vets pass them on to us if we offered to collect? A trickle of calls started. In spite of being our ambulance, the car was kicked out when the garage became our 'hospital'. Word got round, and when we began to get calls from the public, the trickle became a torrent!

The need to expand brought unexpected problems. We discovered that we couldn't register as a charity due to official bigotry against pigeons, which made fundraising difficult. But we kept the faith; not only did we cope with the horrors of Trafalgar square resulting from Livingstone's feeding ban, but we have over the years, taken in other needy souls. Our ever increasing flock of un-releasable pigeons is joined by abandoned small animals, wildlife, caged birds and ex-battery hens.

We're kept very busy with a large garden full of aviaries, baby birds to hand-rear and casualties to collect. Sadly, we sometimes meet with opposition. The pest controllers have spread myths about pigeons endangering human health. They have a vested financial interest in doing so, but we carry on what we're doing purely for the sake of compassion.

When someone asks "why bother with vermin?" - we say, "because if I was lying in the gutter, I would want someone to help me".